4 in lift on Blazer

[Facetime]

I apologize in advance if this topic has been beat to death. I did several searched but couldn't the answer I was looking for. My blazer is a daily driver with the occasional foray up into the mountains of Idaho. It is dirt track no where near rock crawling of stump jumping. My options for lift are: kit, ($1200-$1600), all spring rearch( $800), or shackle flip, (by ORD), in the rear and rearch upfront ($600). Pricing is always a factor but not the deciding point. As it is a daily driver for me and will be my son's in about 3-4 years ride quality, safety, and longevity is paramount. I have a local spring shop that swears the springs will not sag if rearched but most threads I have read say other wise. I have heard that original springs with a shackle in the back are a better ride than stiffer springs from rearching. Anyone have any experience with rearching vs shackle flip or kit?

I know that shocks are a big testament for ride quality and was looking at the Rancho 9000 series. Any negative comments on those? I have read only positive things about them. Thankx again for everyone's insight. This forum is so valuable for a novice. Cheers!

[RED 1970]

I have 4" rancho springs on the front with blocks in the back with 35's and it rides great.
It is a truck and I drive it like one, as long as you have respect for your vehicle and the road you should be safe.

Are you planning on doing the work yourself or having a shop do it? Your "lift kit" prices seem a tad high.

[noco-k5]

I bought a 2 inch Tuff Country with all new springs and shocks for about 800 bucks if I remember right. The 2 inch seems plenty high to me wouldn't want anymore for something driven on the street a lot and mild trail use.

[Mint68]

I purchased from these guys, sd truck springs
http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/suspen...up-truck-69-72

It looks like a 4" all spring lift (minus shocks) is about $515 after the winter discount with free shipping for tuff country. I purchased a 2" lift through them because I heard tuff country has a really good ride, not on yet so don't know for myself. I also would like to run the ranch 9000 shocks, just haven't found the correct size for 2" lift.

[Facetime]

Thanks for the input. I appreciate the feedback. Guess I just need to grow a pair and pull the trigger on one of these.

[blownz]

I would do the ORD shackle flip and springs up front, make sure you get the axle relocator for the that year. I had this set up on my 84 k10. My K5 is still stock.

[Facetime]

When you mention axle relocator are you referring to the driveline? I will use the zero rate adjustment from ORD and the driveline shop I am using will modify the rear driveline once the axle is on the truck. Other than that I am not sure what you are referring to. If I am missing something please let me know. Thank you again for all the information. Could not do it without the contributions from board members.

[RED 1970]

Yea, he's talking about the easy inch.

I bought a 4" TC kit from SD spring too, great prices, horrible customer service. Tuff Country springs do ride really good too.

[DustinU]

I have the 4" Superlift (front and rear spring) and Rancho 9000 shocks with the ORD zero rate. I really like the way it rides, the shocks made the greatest improvement in ride quality... tuning to what you like in the ride.

If I had to redo it all over again, I would use the same components again, but probably would have done a 2" lift as it is my daily drive and light wheeling only (so far).

Here is a link to my build, I haven't been on in a while for any updates.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=512011

Something to consider, my rear still sags (what I want), if you are looking for level stance maybe a 2"/4"??? Just a thought.

[Jdubs71]

I went with the skyjacker 4" lift with replacement springs on the rear. They use 6" rear springs to make up for the weight of the top and according to skyjacker it matches the front 4" springs. I don't plan on ever taking my top of when I'm done with my build, I know defeats the purpose of having a blazer... Couldn't tell you how the ride is, but its supposed to be a good lift. I have about $1000 in my kit which came with springs front and back, steering arm, dual shock stabilizer, shocks, and a few other things. I went through truckaddons.com they normally have free shipping and other promotions going on. They will beat any sale price. They saved me about 3-400 with everything I got. Good luck
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[bowtie72]

I put the ORD shackle flip on mine. I have had a couple of Blazers and my friends have a few. I would go with the ORD shackle flip again and again. They ride much better and handle excellent. You have to remember to do front shackle hanger bushings. I went with the heavier shackles in the front and all greaseable bushings. I wouldn't use anything else...

[-Greg72]

A low-buck option if you decide to go with the rear shackle flip is to also swap in a set of later model K5 stock springs.

The spring rate is substantially softer than the 1st Gen rears and they are a direct bolt-in. I installed a pair out of an '89K5 and the difference was very noticeable....softer ride and better flex.

Most guys will practically give those springs away for free, so it's almost a no-brainer.


-G

[cstanley]

I put the 4" Tuff Country" on mine as well. I do not like them at all. Maybe it's the springs, maybe the shocks, but the thing rides like a covered wagon and has very little give. I wish I had gone with a shackle flip and original or later model springs. Also, I think the 4" was just too much. Still has saggy butt too. My before/ after measurements were in the range of about a 5.75" lift difference. I don't think my originals were sagging that much. Maybe I mistakenly got a 6" set, I don't know. But not happy. I do have wedges under the rear axle and drop pitman linkage stuff. No crossover, but it's stable and handles ok.
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[SlammedBlazerLife]

I have an ORD Shackle kit on my 71' blazer and i can fit 37x12.50's its a great lift option. On my 72' I got an 6 inch Rancho lift it also works fine but the kit came with rear blocks which are not that great for Long term four wheeling, Try to get 6 inch rear arched springs and your set!

[Facetime]

Thanks again for all the inputs. I decided to scale down a bit mainly due to cost of the tires and my tame off-roading. I decided to go with a 2 in lift with rearching. The local spring guy has been great to work with and I prefer to give my $ local if I can. I am adding an extra leaf upfront and taking out the rear "rigid"leaf in back and adding a 3 leaf replacement. He is also fabbing up a 1 inch "leaf" similar to the zero rate idea to move my rear axel back about an inch. I will post pics when it is all done.